


Tempt Me Not, I Know The Way

by Taijitu



Category: Seduce Me (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Gore, Canon Bending, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Violence, a better universe, but thats just me, in my opinion, rape mention, theres a panic attack somewhere in here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-08-24 06:28:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8360914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taijitu/pseuds/Taijitu
Summary: You didn't want to choose between them.Maybe you didn't have to.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my sister for encouraging me and supporting me the whole time I wrote this, and for being as stupidly obsessed with this game as I am. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave comments, and enjoy.

Damien was the first to stir, the sound of crickets, the pungent taste of soil, of damp, dead leaves rather than the feel of soft sheets, snapping panic through his nerves. He shifted only to find his hands tied behind his back far too tight with coarse, frayed rope.

"Eris! Is this everything you need!?"

Damien went still. Footsteps walked past his head as a more distant voice replied.

"Everything except the damn goat, yeah!"

To his left Damien saw his brothers, also face down in the dirt, hands tied and out cold. Their minds weren't active, but he could see them breathing. Some sort of spell was keeping them under, that had failed to restrain Damien.

"Goat should be out by the circle, ain't it?"

"Ain't seein' it!"

Damien could mentally make out several entities nearby, but just beyond earshot. Demons like them. What were they doing with him and his brothers? Careful of his eyes glow, Damien used his stronger mind-altering powers and jogged Matthew awake.

Matthew gasped like he'd been drowning and coughed when he got a mouth full of wet dirt.

"Shhh...." Damien said. "Quiet..."

Matthew paused, turned his head to Damien with fearful eyes. 'What's going on!? Where are we!?' He thought.

"I don't know..." Damien whispered. "I'm waking the others..."

A swift jog to Erik, who drew in a loud, winded gasp before Matthew or Damien could shush him.

"What was that!?" A voice in the distance shouted.

"Ay, who's supposed to be watching the Princes and ain't? Get moving!"

Erik went very still, eyes wide. 'Princes. Princes!? Where are we!? Who are these demons!?'

'They know who we are!?'

"Shh!" Damien could feel his adrenaline peak, but forced himself to relax and close his eyes. He hoped his brothers were keen enough to follow suit.

Heavy footsteps approached. A formidable pair of boots walked around the five, examining. Damien could hear his heart beat louder than he could hear any thoughts from his brothers or these demon kidnappers.

"They're way out, boss!"

Damien swallowed. If these demons were aware of their identities then they were likely sent by Father.

"So double check!!"

The boots' owner groaned and nudged James onto his back with their heel. A pause, before they dealt a swift kick to James' face, busting his lip open. James didn't even stir.

"Yep! All good!"

"Aight, help me find this damn goat will ya!?"

The boots jogged away, grumbling.

Matthew sneered and spat dirt, voice barely a whisper. "Who the hell does he think he's dealing with!?"

"Izroul, Zecaeru, what's going on?"

"I don't know, I don't _know!_ " Damien squeezed his eyes shut and jogged James and Sam awake.

Sam groaned and rolled his shoulders. James gasped, then barely restrained a pained cry.

"Raestrao, Aomaris, get up," Damien shifted and tried to get his bindings looser. "We're being hunted."

Matthew got his legs up underneath his torso and stood, shaking. "We have to get out of here before they come back...!"

Sam whipped his head around, brows furrowed and eyes wide, but smart enough to stay quiet. "Wha.... th'fuck is this shit? What happened?"

James spat blood. "I'm not going to waste time on questions. We aren't meant to escape this, which is all the more reason to do so."

"I heard something from the Princes!! They might be waking up!"

"Fuck," Damien choked on the word, pushing himself to his feet. "We have to go, now...!"

Sam and Erik rolled into a kneel and rose, and James followed suit. Footsteps approached, but it was impossible to see anyone too far in the dead of night.

"C'mon Raestrao, you old sack!! Lets bail!"

With all five on their feet, they chose a direction away from the footsteps and bolted.

"I hear them- They're running! Everyone in formation!!"

"Fuck!!" Sam stumbled, pulling harder at his rope bindings. "They're looking for a fight!"

Five men, five choruses of scared panting and footsteps snapping twigs, crunching leaves, matting dirt, five faces whipped by leaves and branches.

Several footsteps ran around their location, faster than they could move.

"We must stay together at all costs!!" Erik cried. "We can outlast them!"

"Use energy wisely, brothers," James spoke. "We can escape them if we-"

Red flare lights on either side of them hissed and fizzled, and the five all fell. Something - a trip wire - caught them and went unseen in the cloak of darkness.

They landed on one another, shouting and grunting in pain. Suddenly, Sam's hands shot out to his sides.

"Got it!"

A web of red illuminated the night, entwined through the trees and shimmering like their final hopes of escape. It began several meters wide, a cage around them, held aloft by demons in human clothing, but as these demons approached the cage shrunk in their grip.

"Shoulda done this from the start," a voice rang out behind, shrill and gravelly, like pennies in a blender. "Haha! On the plus, I get to enjoy beating the fuck out of Daddy's Little Runaways!"

Sam dove to tear off James' ropes.

A demon in a dress shirt and pin-strip pants stepped through the red webbing, a cigarette in his teeth and a spark of malice in his eyes.

"Hoho.... Am I ever gonna enjoy it..."

Sam tugged at the ropes, cursed, then let his disguise pull back at his hands. Red, knobby hands with thick, sharp nails clutched and tore through the binds easily.

The fancifully dressed demon blew smoke and watched this happen, unimpressed.

"Look, my guy, if it's gonna take you two fucking hours to tear 'em loose then fuck me, I'll save you the trouble."

He snapped his fingers and the ropes caught ablaze, falling to ash over their backs and into the dirt.

The three who had been bound spread their arms and rubbed their wrists but got to their feet in a flash, in defensive stances.

"What do you want from us!?" James shouted.

The demon cackled at them. A few of the sideline demons snickered, too.

"Just lookin' to make a little pocket change, my guy."

A woman in a deep blue dress and luxurious blonde hair, untouched by the murk around her, stepped to the edge of the web.

"Malix, we don't have time for your stupid power play! Let's open the portal and get back to the Plains already, you have them caged."

Malix waved her off. "C'mon babe, what's the fun in a drag-n-drop hunt? I'm hungry. I feel like playing with my food tonight."

The woman crossed her arms, shaking her head.

Malix stepped forward and the five men braced. "Y'all gonna fight for your freedom or what? Ain't gotta start this shit myself do I?"

Damien's expression hardened. Matthew reached into his sleeves, Erik tightened his fists, and James raised one hand, lowered the other....

But it was Sam who moved first. Ungodly fast, even in his fatigue, he lunged for Malix's collar, two fistfuls of cloth in two demon hands. Sam snarled loud enough to awaken the night.

But as fast as he was to grab, to shift his weight, Malix grabbed him by the wrists, pried his arms to the sides, and head-butted him with an audible crack.

To everyone's astonishment, Sam staggered.

The four waited no longer. Erik threw out a single bramble vine at Malix as Matthew, daggers palmed, arced his lunge to balance Erik's attack angle. James clapped his hands vertically, golden mists appearing and taking form as a large, exquisite bow.

Malix fixed his gaze on James.

The bramble arched to encase Malix but the demon swerved aside and under, grabbing the vine and whipping it back. Erik staggered forward and lost his hold on the root, making the vine fall lax. Just in time for Matthew to slash across and miss as Malix dropped to his knees and leaned as far back as he could.

As Malix suspected, Matthew leapt over him immediately; in time for James initially well-aimed light arrow to hit where Malix's head had been not a second before, and embedded in Matthew's thigh.

"Oh shit no! Zecaeru!!"

Matthew's eyes shot wide and he fell to the dirt with a howl, curling in on his leg.

Sam, back with the current events, snarled and lunged at Malix. The demon sidestepped and swung Sam around.

Damien saw his opening, held up his hands and spawned from the ground five doppelgängers surrounding Malix. They took Damien's form, but their eyes glowed and their faces were cloaked in black, mouths twisted and torn wide in vicious howls of rage.

The timing was good, and Malix had to admit, it unsettled him enough to make him hesitate.

That hesitation is what Erik used to throw another bramble out at his ankle and yank the demon off his feet. Malix fell on his back hard, coughing.

The bramble crept up his leg as Sam dove on him, teeth bared. Malix clutched Sam's jacket and spun them like it was a practiced dance, and dealt Sam three hard gut shots, taking the jaw punch without more than a grunt.

The bramble clutched Malix's leg and squeezed, tearing into his skin and muscles. Malix cried out, laughing with pain.

Another arrow shot at his head, and Malix caught it in his fingers.

"You need to cut that out, man!" Malix cackled, spun the arrow, and flicked it back. It returned as if Malix had slung it from a bow of his own, and shot clean through James' shoulder.

James dropped his bow and clutched his shoulder, howling as blood gushed through his button-up.

Damien sneered, and with a murmur, he flash-swapped places with a doppelgänger behind Malix. Damien saw what Malix was planning, and used what little energy he could summon to garble Malix's thoughts as he wrapped one hand in shadow, cloaking it in something putrid and horrible, something not of this world or theirs or anyone's.

It wasn't enough.

Malix shook his head and produced his trump card, a .357 revolver from a concealed holster, and fired through Damien's hand, sending Damien staggering back and screaming, cradling his almost exploded hand.

Sam cried out, but felt the barrel of a gun at his head before he could even reach out to his brother.

Malix licked his teeth, and looked over at a stunned Erik. "Wanna get this bush outta my calf there, pretty boy?"

Erik hesitated, but realized he couldn't win this race, and retracted the bramble.

Malix cackled, and stood up. Sam looked at him, lip curled, but didn't move.

Matthew was sitting in a pool of his own blood, whimpering, but tried to shift into a more useful position.

James knelt, the pain in his shoulder shooting through him, blinding his mind to almost everything.

"Now...." Malix looked down at Erik, laying on his stomach, and cocked the gun. "I think you owe me for this, huh pretty boy?"

Erik swallowed, said nothing. His eyes stayed trained on the barrel of that revolver.

Malix smirked, kicked Erik onto his back with his bloody foot - how was he about to put weight on it? - and with his free hand he reached forward, over Erik's chest.

Erik's eyes widened and he tensed to scramble, to move, but it was too late. Malix opened a siphon, and Erik's energy pooled up into the air, feeding Malix. Erik arched up into the light and choked on a scream, elbows curling back and eyes rolling up.

"UZAERIS NO!!"

Sam barreled at Malix from behind. Malix turned and fired twice into Sam's stomach.

Sam coughed up blood, his gaze went blank, and he collapsed into the dirt.

"AOMARIS!!"

"NO, AOMARIS!!"

James and Matthew scrambled, but Malix held his gun high. They both froze, staring in terror, one brother nearly dead and another drained alive.

Malix looked down at Erik, the royal incubus gurgling on his own blood. "What a pretty little pork rind you are! Smoked ripe to perfection! Hahahaaaa!!"

Damien sucked in air through his teeth, quivering in pain and rage. He could hear them. Damien's brothers were saying their goodbyes, he could hear them. Malix was spitting on their names, he could hear them. These demon grunts were sneering profanities and admirations to their boss, and he could fucking hear them.

Damien could hear it all, and his brothers were dying and he would not fucking let this end in the middle of some god forsaken forest to some faceless bounty hunter.

Damien's eyes went as wide as he could open them, and his pupils morphed. Narrow, sidelong, sharpened, pentagram. Damien screamed. Malix turned. Doppelgängers appeared behind the grunts outside holding up the web, faces cloaked in shadow, mouths torn and dripping with silhouettes of sinew and blood, reached into their necks, into their heads, and pulled.

A chorus of screams and howls rang out as the grunts clutched their skulls in agony. The web dropped.

"What the fuck is going on!?" Malix waved his gun. "What are you morons screaming about?"

Damien could hardly believe what he just did but he didn't waste time questioning it. The youngest lunged forward and hoisted Sam up. By some miracle, he was still breathing, still moving, still trying to stand, so Damien held Sam's arm over his shoulder and they ran.

Matthew got up on one leg and, with Malix distracted, managed one final lunge to launch Malix onto his ass. It connected, and Matthew choked on a sob, and he ran.

James dove for Erik, picked the man up bridal style, biting back the searing pain in his shoulder, and he ran.

The grunts howled, fell back writhing. Malix scrambled for his gun and shot at them. One, two, three, click click. No hits.

"Fuck!! Someone get the web on them!! Eris!!"

The woman in the dress examined her nails.

"Useless bitch, don't fucking stand there!!"

"They earned this one, Malix."

Malix threw the gun at her. It landed at her feet.

The incubi ran, through trees and branches, through pain and fear, they ran until they couldn't feel their legs or their fatigue and they kept running still.

When they emerged from the forest after ages, they nearly collapsed. No sounds of pursuit.

James pushed Erik's hair out of the man's face. Unseeing, nearly dead. If they couldn't get Erik an energy source soon he would die.

James turned to look at his brothers, covered in blood and panting, pained.

Who was James kidding...

The oldest of them faced forward. Far in the distance, down the knoll, there were lights. A house. A mansion.

James' heart soared. Salvation. He hiked Erik up more securely in his arms and moved ahead. His brothers followed.


	2. Arrival

"Woman. You are going to let me kiss you."

Mika was frozen in place, fear clutching at her chest and squeezing. Her throat clamped shut before she could even gasp, making a dull wheeze. She tried to pull away but this man's grip was iron on her jaw.

Mika felt a scream well up in her chest just as she felt her throat open again.

No holding back.

Mika shrieked as loud and piercing as her voice allowed, reverberating off the walls and ringing tenfold. Everyone cried out in pain. The man in green recoiled, covered his ears, and Mika took the window to duck away. He was right back at her though, grabbing her by her blouse and pulling her close.

Mika could smell blood on him, and she gagged. His eyes were tired, his brown hair matted down with red blotches. She was going to die like this, she thought, her fingers going numb.

He leaned in again and Mika was ready to scream once more, until a firm, pained voice made the man in green pause.

"Sam... no."

Sam glanced back. The one who spoke was a taller gentleman sporting a grey button-up and untucked tie, a lip busted wide open, and cracked, crooked glasses.

"You can't just... take their energy like that..."

Sam didn't respond at first, looking perfectly incredulous. One hand let go of Mika's shirt to gesture to his stomach, oozing with fresh blood.

"I am... literally... bleeding out here, and you... wanna talk about comfort zones. You wanna do this now."

Mika seized her chance and swung her elbow across Sam's cheek. He howled and staggered back, clutching his face. Free of his hold, she backpedaled as fast as she could until her back hit the door.

Sam grimaced. "Rrrgh... Son of a bitch, what the fuck was that for!?"

Mika felt a wave of disgust wash over her and form a knot in her stomach. The blood, the manhandling, it was too much too fast. She couldn't breathe...

Sam suddenly cried out and fell to his knees, clutching at his still-bleeding stomach.

The man in grey pulled himself upright with one of the staircase rails, clutching his shoulder. "Miss... please, we-we need your help..."

"What happened to you!?" Mika cried.

Another of the five spoke; a younger-looking boy with mousy black hair, a baby blue shirt, anda massive yellow hoodie was cradling his thigh, leaning against the far wall. Red oozed down his leg.

"We need.... hah... we need kisses...!"

Mika sputtered and decided to ignore that. "What- who did this to you all!? What happened!?"

A man laying flat on the floor, wearing a red blazer vest and pink dress shirt, seized and arched up off the ground making some deathly gurgling noise. His eyes shot open wide, glowing an impossibly vibrant red. Something about him flickered for a millisecond, as if it weren't him laying there but something very different. His hand scrambled weakly to clutch the arm of a man in a brown jacket hunching over him. Blood dribbled out of his mouth.

Mika whimpered, splaying her hand over her face in horror. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh god...!"

The man in the jacket, a redhead with a mangled hand coated in blood, took his fallen friend's hand and held tight. He murmured in a soothing, barely audible voice, "Uzaeris, breathe slowly, your wounds are healing... you'll be okay..."

Mika could hear his doubt.

Upon seeing his friend convulse so violently, Sam wasted no time. He was before Mika, hoisting her to her feet by her shirt. She struggled, cried out and tried to push him away, but in the end Sam was too strong and held her still. He locked his lips with hers, and Mika wanted to bite him.

Warmth, calm and pleasant suddenly bloomed in her cheeks. Mika felt all tension in her muscles vanish, but the sensation didn't last more than a second. Sam released her, all but tossing her away to run to the man in red's side. He slid to his knees and leaned over the man.

"Here... E-Erik, take it!"

Sam leaned down and kissed him, only it wasn't a kiss. It looked more like Sam was performing mouth-to-mouth, but Mika knew that would be a terrible idea if that man on the floor was gurgling... and weren't you supposed to pinch their nose? And 'take' what exactly?

Erik's eyes began to dim, and he groaned. Sam parted from him, but not before Erik clutched at Sam's green sleeveless jacket, panting.

"Hah..." Erik's voice was barely above a whisper. "Thank you, Aomaris..."

Mika didn't process the strange word, struggled to keep up with what she had just witnessed and already on the path to hyperventilating. "His- his eyes... What happened to his eyes...!?"

"Miss..." The man in grey spoke softly, trying to stand on his own. "I'm sure... you are very shocked right now, but... w-we really need your help... it's a matter of life and death... we n-need someone's energy if we're going to heal properly..."

"Energy...?"

"We can explain... please, I'm so sorry... will you allow us a kiss?" His gaze locked with Mika's, pleading and full of fear.

This guy, these men.... they were all insane! But they believed what they were telling her, and maybe if she just, got this over with then she'd get some answers? At least this guy asked first.

Quick on her feet, Mika approached the man in glasses, grabbed his tie to pull him down to her level because damn he was tall, and kissed him. He sighed, but it wasn't passionate or wanton; he was relieved she had obliged. There was nothing romantic about this... but that warmth she'd felt bloom in her cheeks was back.

This time, however, it expanded and spread all through her body, saturating her bones in sunny warmth, then it churned and flowed through her like a river. A glowing river of heat, somehow, channeling through her muscles up and up, then out.

So that's what Sam took.

Mika ended the kiss and staggered back, the heat stopping almost immediately. "Wh-what was that!?"

The man in grey sighed and stood up straight. His shoulder popped, and he rolled it, looking considerably less pained. "Nngh... thank you, Miss. Thank you very much."

The smaller boy ambled up to them, limping, but smiling. "H-hey... Rae- uh... James... Any left for us?"

James helped his friend stand and looked to Mika. "Will you be so kind, miss? I am sorry, were it not an emergency I-"

"How is this helping anything!? I need to call an ambulance, there's blood everywhere...!"

"An ambulance won't help..." The man in the brown jacket said softly, tucking his red hand inside his jacket. He and Sam helped Erik to his feet.

"Indeed," Erik smiled, teeth and lips reddened with blood, "Tonight, it seems only you can heal our wounds, lovely princess."

The man in brown muttered in Erik's ear, "Uzaeris, please."

James cleared his throat, smiling at Mika but unable to mask his growing dread. "Miss, my brothers will die if they don't get some sort of energy soon... I can promise your safety but please, I don't want to insist but I really have to..."

James went on with apologies and pleaded, trying his damnedest to stay calm but stuttering and tripping over his words the more he talked. He clearly meant well but couldn't downplay the direness of their situation any longer.

Mika felt sorry for them.

She had just witnessed a man's eyes glow, and a flicker in reality which... she still couldn't properly articulate... Something supernatural was happening here. Mika wouldn't, and couldn't, understand it right now while in shock, but if one thing was certain in her mind, it was that she needed to help these men. And if all it took was a kiss, well... they weren't unattractive.

"Alright."

Mika moved to the younger one with James and leaned down to kiss him. He squeaked in surprise - she could admit that was cute, even under the circumstances - and she felt that current of heat rush through her bones and up towards him. It was like a river of life draining from her whole being...

He pressed up to follow her lips as she parted from him. She felt her knees nearly buckle, and he beamed. "Hoo man! Thanks mystery lady!! I'm Matthew by the way!"

Mika moved on to Erik, who currently stood slumped with an arm over Sam's and the red headed man's shoulders. She put a finger under his chin to tilt his head up, and pressed her lips to his, trying to ignore the taste of blood. He accepted readily - a little too readily - and the heat welled up once again. There was no denying it as their doing now.

Mika's legs gave out, breaking the kiss. She could barely see straight for a moment.

The redhead caught her before she could hit the ground. "Ah! Careful!"

"Augh! Damien, fuckin'-!" Sam scrambled to catch Erik's weight but realized quickly that he didn't need to. Erik found his footing and stood tall, chuckling at Mika as he fixed his hair.

"What's this? Aw, have I made you go weak in the knees, lovely girl?"

Mika decided to kiss this guy who just caught her, Damien, because seriously fuck that guy in green.

Damien choked on a laugh, coughed into his arm with a wince. Red flecks spattered over the brown cloth.

"Aight-!!" Mika squeaked and dove in for his kiss. Damien gasped, and after a moment there was the heated river flowing up to him. Mika's eyes fluttered.

Damien pulled back, concern marking his features. "Please don't get hurt on my behalf... Can you stand?"

"I... yeah..." Mika pushed her legs underneath herself and braced against Damien's chest, but her knees refused to lock. She could barely stay conscious. "What's... what's happening to me... I feel...?"

Damien held her up. "We can heal Sam on our own."

"Wh- Damien!" Sam was now being held up by Erik. "I got two bullets sitting in my gut!! You think leftovers can fix this!?"

James spoke. "Damien is right, we've taken far more than we should have. She needs to rest."

Mika tried to stand on her own again, pushing Damien away. Damien allowed her to. "Ah... n-no, I'm okay... I can..."

Fear crept along the far reaches of her mind. "Am I going to die?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake- lemme go dude!" Sam threw Erik's arm off him shoulder and stormed up to Mika. "You're the one scared of dying right now!?"

Sam grabbed her by her biceps too hard and pulled her to kiss him before she could process what was happening. Mika made a noise of protest as the heat and energy welled up, and one of the others shouted for him to stop. As her world faded to black, Mika's final thoughts were how much she hated and feared this man for forcing himself on her, and that she had even considered trying to be strong to give him a kiss was a kindness he didn't deserve.


	3. Descent

Mika woke up the next morning, eyes still heavy and mind still hazed. The sheets felt smooth and cool against her feverish skin; all it took was a half-aware flip of the pillow to keep her comfortable as could be...

Her room didn't have a window beside her bed. Mika's eyes shot open.

This wasn't her room...

Mika sat up, throwing the sheets back, and that's when she remembered, she was in Grandpa's house. She chose not to be embarrassed.

Mika slid out of bed and stretched, feeling at least two somethings pop. Her mind went dizzy and she let herself flop back onto the mattress. Everything was a groggy mess in her skull; what happened last ni- oh.

The five men.

Mika felt a creeping apprehension well up. Were they still in her house? If they were the ones who brought her to her room, what else did they do after she passed out?

What else did they do to her?

Her bags sat at the foot of the bed, placed together nice and neat. Mika grabbed her clothes bag, hoisted it up on the bed, and set to extracting an outfit for the day. Ordinarily she wouldn't bother getting dressed so early when there was nowhere to be, content with a Pajama Day, but...

If these men were still in her house, what would she do? Mika would have to ask them to leave, but what if they didn't? Would she be able to call for help, or would they hurt her? Mika immediately recalled the face of that man in the green sleeveless jacket, how he'd grabbed her and pulled her in so mercilessly, and she shuddered.

Mika pulled off her blouse and tossed it into a corner. A glance at the standing body mirror made Mika step closer and examine her arm. There was a large bruise, tender to the touch.

She hugged her waist, looking away. Even though they'd been thoughtful enough to bring her up here and leave her bags, Mika hoped the men were gone. While, much as she didn't want to admit it, they had been pretty attractive... she was okay with never getting answers about the glowing eyes or the wounds magically healing if it meant staying safe.

Only, Mika realized, that wasn't entirely true.

A fresh pair of jeans and a pastel violet shirt would do just fine. Mika combed her fingers through her hair and tossed stray wisps back over her shoulder. The bags under her eyes made her seem fed up, and Mika decided this to be an appropriate look.

She nodded at her reflection and, taking a deep breath, left her room.

"Good morning."

"YEEP-!!" Mika jumped sideways, hopped to keep her footing, put her hands up to defend herself.

Damien, leaning against the wall with his hand up in a small wave, lowered his hand with a knotted brow. "Uh...?"

Mika caught her breath, staring at him. "H-how long have you been out here!?"

He glanced sideways. "Nnnnnot long. I uh, came up to check on you but, I heard noise so I thought I'd wait."

She lowered her hands. "You were checking up on me...?"

He put his hands up. "Nothing invasive or anything! But you did go through a lot because of us, and I- we were worried."

She blinked at him.

He offered a soft smile. "How are you feeling?"

She touched her arm, where the bruise was hidden under her sleeve. "Mmh... been better, been worse..."

Damien frowned. "I'm sorry Sam grabbed you the way he did."

"Huh?"

"He was wearing the green jacket. We've all talked to him. Even under the circumstance, he shouldn't have done that and he knows it."

Mika blinked, just as a memory hit her. "Your hand! It was mangled!"

It was his turn to blink. He looked down at his hand, turned it front and back. "Yeah... it was pretty bad. Hah, I owe you a huge thank you! If we hadn't run into you, I'm not sure it ever would have healed properly."

"But... _how!?"_

"Mmh... you should come downstairs. My brothers can explain it better than I can."

She didn't move from her spot.

He sighed, though he wasn't exasperated. "You're right to not trust us... I wish I could think of a good way to convince you that you're safe. For what it's worth, I can assure you that after you passed out, James and I only touched you to move you up here. James was adamant about giving you the time and space to recover and I agreed."

She mulled this information over, but there were so many questions clouding her mind it was hard to think straight. She touched her forehead.

"Here, we've made breakfast downstairs. My brothers and I were... hoping we could all talk about this... together...."

Through the headache and confusion, one crucial fact shone through that Mika couldn't deny: if these men had wanted to hurt her, rob her, do anything to her... they could have just as easily done those things while she was passed out. They could have hurt her, taken her things, and left, but they hadn't. She wouldn't still be clothed, she would have felt more violated, felt pain pain in places...

Damien cleared his throat looking very uncomfortable, and rubbed his neck, glancing away.

This man, Damien, he was earnest in his demeanor. Mika wasn't sure how she figured this, but something told her that if she could trust any of these five, she could trust Damien.

"Alright I'll... yeah. Breakfast sounds good."

He brightened. "That's great! I'm so glad you're giving us a chance, c'mon."

She felt herself smile as she joined him. Damien had a cute smile, and the way his hair flowed around his face made Mika want to touch it, to run her fingers through it. Fuck, she thought, just a minute ago she was questioning the moral integrity of these strangers in her house and now she was walking alongside one of those strangers thinking about playing with his hair –

"So!" His voice broke as he scratched the back of his head a bit too vigorously. "Uhm, w-what's your name?"

"Mika," She blinked at his sudden odd behavior, furrowed her brow, but said nothing.

They descended the staircase together. She could hear the soft bustles of life in the dining room, voices somewhat familiar.

"If you ask us to leave, we will."

She looked up. "What?"

"Earlier, when you woke up, when you were thinking about us. If you ask us to leave, then we will. I feel bad even that we're staying now..."

Damien paused when he noticed she had stopped moving. She was staring at him.

He looked back up at her, confused. "Is...?"

How had he known what she was thinking about? He was talking so casually, like he knew, he wasn't even doubting that he was right. Mika didn't know how to process it.

He suddenly looked fearful. "Oh.... oh no, I, you didn't know about the-.... I'm sorry, it's- I have this... Sorry."

She squinted at him sidelong.

Damien gestured with his hands and stepped up to meet her. "Alright, so... Supernatural stuff is what's happening here, you know that... so... I can read minds."

Mika blinked.

"It's... it's a thing I can do. I just, hear people's thoughts, like second voices. I can't really... I can't really not hear them. I don't know how to control it..."

She knotted her brow at him, and thought, _'If that were true then you could hear this right now.'_

He looked her over, and nodded.

Mika's heart rate spiked, but she had to be sure. _'Say the number one hundred twenty-eight thousand five hundred and twelve.'_

Damien balked, a half smile pulling at his lips. "Uh... one hundred twenty-eight thousand five hundred and twelve? Why the weird number?"

Her eyes widened. _'How!?'_

Damien shrugged. "I don't know... I've always heard people's thoughts. It's just a thing I can do..."

Mika took a breath. "Hoo! Alright, ok, so, you're a psychic!"

"I mean I guess?"

"So..." **_'AAAAAAAAA!!'_**

Damien flinched and ducked, clutching the rail and eyes scrunched in pain. "AAH!! Ow, please, don't do that!!"

Mika felt her entire body go numb for all of a second. That was no coincidence. That was real.

"Of course it was real, you screamed!"

"I imagined screaming!"

"Well your imagination _really_ hurt my head!"

Mika winced. "I'm sorry... that was a dick move. I wanted to be sure."

A gunshot-like bang sounded from down below and the two spun. Something grey and furry shot out from the dining room like a bat out of hell.

"No!! Stupid bunny- bad bunny! Come back!!"

The younger looking man with the mousy hair and hoodie, Matthew, shot after the blur with a fancy metal dish cover brandished. He leapt and slammed the cover down, and he missed.

Damien leaned to peer over the rail. "Matthew? What is that?"

"It was supposed to be a gift for the Mystery Girl! But it- it started moving and I-" Matthew scrambled and galloped after the grey blur, almost tripping over his hanging belts. It banked and he shouted and slid across the floor trying to turn fast enough.

Damien descended with haste. "Why did you make it so fast?"

"I didn't!!" Matthew cried out and leapt at the bunny but it darted away from his outstretched arms. He landed on his stomach. "It was a stuffed animal, it wasn't supposed to move at all!!"

Damien's expression dropped, wide-eyed.

Mika hit the ground floor. "What on earth is going on!?"

The bunny paused and looked around. Matthew saw his chance, yanked off his hoodie and leapt again holding the hoodie like a net. It shot in the opposite direction and Matthew chin-skidded.

"Uuuugh!!!" He buried his face in his hoodie.

It hopped over to Mika and ran circles around her feet. She bent her knees and peered down at it.

"Aww, hi there cutie!"

The bunny stopped moving and stared up at her. Beady black button eyes, unblinking, and a stitch mouth with a plastic nose that twitched. It grabbed its own plush ear and began licking it - opening a mouth that shouldn't exist with a tongue it couldn't possibly have.

Mika's smile vanished, her eyes gone wide.

Matthew pushed himself up on his elbows and pouted. "Aw, what the fuck!! Why doesn't it run when you go near it!?"

Damien, like lightning, snatched the bunny up and held it tight in both hands.

Mika stepped back and gripped the stair railing. "That's a stuffed animal. That is... that is a... stuffed animal!!"

Matthew pushed himself up onto his knees. "Nice reflexes bro!"

Damien nodded, holding the living toy up to examine. "Do the others know you made this?"

"No..." Matthew's smile wilted. "Look, it- it was probably just a fluke! Here, at least let me make it a bow!"

Damien made a face but handed the bunny over.

Mika clutched at her chest. "It's alive... How is that thing moving!? Is it, is it mechanical...?"

Matthew held the creature in the crook of his arm and walked up to Mika, who pressed herself against the wall. Matthew paused, then offered a reassuring smile, petting the bunny's head. It chirped in delight.

"It's just a bunny! It can't hurt you, promise."

Mika stared at it, then glanced at Matthew. He didn't come closer, simply petting the bunny. She blinked, caught her breath, and stepped up to him to see the creature.

Matthew flashed a big grin and cupped a hand around the bunny's neck. His eyes began to glow a brilliant cyan, and with a small rub, he removed his hand to reveal a lovely red ribbon around its neck.

Mika put her hands to her mouth. "Oh my god...! How did...?"

Damien chuckled.

"Do you like it!?" Matthew hopped on the balls of his feet. "I want you to have him! Or her. Or it. Do stuffed animals have genders?"

"I don't think so," Damien murmured.

"Yeah, no. But yeah! It's yours now! I'm sorry we hurt you last night. You seem like a really nice person and nice people deserve nice things!"

Matthew offered the bunny to Mika and she accepted it, nervous but careful to support its feet. It weighed hardly anything at all.

"Th-thank you... Matthew."

It seemed he would never stop smiling, even as he backed away. "It's my pleasure, Mystery Lady!! Come on in if you want some food, we made Eggshell Surprise and Rollers!"

Damien perked. "Oh! We haven't had Rollers in a long time!"

"Right? James even made us some orange sauce! From scratch!"

Damien put a hand to his chin, eyes wide. Matthew ducked back into the dining room.

Mika tentatively ran her palm over the bunny's head, its soft but stiff fur tickling. It chirped and shivered, nuzzling a hard nose at her hand for more.

"I... really am in the middle of something supernatural, aren't I..."

Damien's smile waned to something more understanding.

"Let's.... yeah, let's get some food. I'm gonna need something in my stomach to help process all this... I'm holding a living stuffed animal...!"


	4. Eggshell Surprise

Before the fresh smells of breakfast could reach her, Mika saw Sam sitting in the far right spot of the table with his eyes shut, feet up on the table, and his hands behind his head. She stopped dead and stared at him. Her hand fell still on the bunny’s ears, quivering.

Sam opened his eyes and looked right at her, gave her a once-over without even turning his head, and closed his eyes again.

That was it…? No acknowledgment, no apology for yesterday? Rage sparked in Mika, straightening her back and pulling a sneer along her lip.

Damien put a hand on her shoulder. She paused, letting him slide past her. He offered a bright smile and took a seat on the left beside Matthew, who sat across from Sam. Despite the many trays of food on the table, Matthew was pulling open a silver package of Pop Tarts.

James emerged from the kitchen with a milk jug, one hand daintily supporting the bottom. “Ah! Good morning, Miss!”

“Morning…” Mika murmured, gaze staying on Sam a second longer before looking to James.

“You must forgive us for overstaying,” He continued as he sat the jug down alongside the food trays. “I realize that you must feel… well, put off, after all that’s happened. However, we wanted to ensure your safety and well-being before taking our leave.”

Erik slid up beside Mika just then, emerged from God knows where, and leaned in far too close. “Princess! Oh, it is a wonderful morning indeed now that our lovely lady walks among us. Won’t you sit? We’ve made a _delectable_ breakfast; almost as delectable as you.”

He placed a gentle hand under her chin. Mika blinked at him, leaning away.

“Erik,” James warned as he approached them. “Would you mind not making her more uncomfortable than she already is?”

Erik smacked his lips with a cheeky smirk and reached for her hand. “Oh, James, please. The girl deserves a bit of pampering after last night, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Uh…” Mika withdrew her hand before he could take it and moved back. “I’m… could you, please…. not…”

“Yes, seconded,” James said and yanked Erik back by the ear. Erik’s eyes popped wide and he squawked, hopping back helplessly.

“Raestra-OW!! James, for fuck’s sake that hurts!!”

“Down, boy,” James chided, yanking Erik down into a chair beside Sam and taking the end seat for himself.

Sam snickered. “Shut down.”

Matthew shut his eyes and mocked, “Little boys will always misbehave~!”

Erik rubbed his ear and glared at Matthew. “My desire to help this young lady feel at home is _hardly_ out of line.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that good ol’ warm feeling of someone breathing two inches from my face! Home sweet home!”

“Matthew, hush. And Sam, show some respect,” James tapped Sam’s legs.

“Whatever mom,” Sam grumbled and moved them off the table.

“Thank you for cooking for all of us, James,” Damien spoke. “You didn’t have to.”

“Yes, well,” James straightened himself, pulled his sleeves taut. “We can all agree that a debt is owed here. Miss?”

Mika didn’t move. “Huh…?”

“Are you hungry?”

“I, uh… y-yes.”

She looked to Damien, who nodded at her with an empathetic smile. He then gestured at Sam.

“Can you pass the milk?”

“Mmh.”

Sam took the cap off the jug before lifting it with both hands just like James had, and passed it. Damien took the jug and poured.

“Is that a… wine glass?” Mika cocked a brow and almost smiled.

Damien stopped pouring to look at her, then down at the glass. “Uhm….”

“Glass goblets for wine…?” Erik rubbed his chin, examining his own glass with a fond smile. “Interesting.”

James took his seat. “You’ll, ah… have to forgive us, Miss…?”

“Mika,” She said. “Mika Anderson.”

“Miss Mika. We aren’t exactly from here. I apologize if my choice of table settings isn’t appropriate.”

Mika paused, scratched the bunny’s ears, glanced between the five men with this information. The supernatural things she had seen in the last twelve hours had her bracing for some new information, and with this, she took the moment to process and ready herself for whatever was to come. Her instinct would be to doubt, she knew, but there was more than enough proof here.

Carefully, she took her seat at the head of the table. For a long moment no one spoke. Mika considered them, and nodded.

“Alright,” she spoke. “Then…. Where are you from?”

“Ooh! Can I tell her!?” Matthew shot upright.

“No, Matthew,” James stated. “Sit.”

He made a sour face and sat back. Damien offered him the milk jug, which Matthew accepted.

“Are you human?” Mika piped up.

Erik smirked and propped his chin in his hand with eyes fixed on her. “Mmh… Far from it. We are known as Incubi, my dear. Demons who feed off of… _sexual energy._ ”

The words slithered off Erik’s tongue and skittered up her spine. She sat up straighter and shivered, expression contorted in her effort to not rub her arms furiously.

Damien shot Erik a filthy look. Erik pretended not to notice.

“As to where we come from,” Erik continued. “There is a place between this world and Hell called the Abyssal Plains. That is where we come from.”

Mika nodded, expression still tight, though she didn’t quite process what he had said. It all sounded a bit fantastical.

Her stomach rumbled.

Amidst the five filling their plates, Sam grabbed what looked like an almost-complete eggshell off one platter full of them, and knocked its contents back like a liquor shot.

Mika blinked at him.

Sam paused, mouth full, when he noticed, and gestured at her. “What. You gonna eat or stare all day?”

“Sam,” James warned.

Mika shot Sam a nasty glare and grabbed one of the eggs off the platter. The bunny, who had begun to get comfortable in her lap, took off under the table.

She examined the egg. Its hole in the top revealed what looked like cooked egg mixed with some kind of green.

“What is this?” She gingerly emptied the eggshell into her hand.

Matthew made a noise before swallowing his mouthful of food. “Eggshell Surprise! You’ve never had it?”

She blinked. “I’ve never _heard_ of it…”

James cleared his throat. “I’m sure you have more questions for us, Miss.”

Mika delicately placed the lump of egg on her plate with a sidelong glance and took up a platter of what looked like enchiladas.

“… You’re all incubi. All five of you.”

“Correct.”

“Sex demons.”

James’ jaw clenched. He swallowed, and raised his chin slightly. “In so many words.”

Mika paused at his reaction. A glance at the others told her not to use that term.

“Don’t incubi seduce humans for sex and then kill them or, like, steal their souls?”

Sam coughed, covered his mouth and thumped his chest. Damien put his forehead in his hand, and Erik simply closed his eyes and chuckled to himself.

“Where’d you hear that?” Matthew crossed his arms on the table.

“I… I don’t remember, but that’s what I’ve heard.”

James shut his eyes and pressed his fingertips together, forearms on the table. “Incubi require sexual energy to survive, miss. We have neither the means nor the desire to take anyone’s soul.”

Sam grabbed off of a platter of bread rolls - the most normal looking thing on the table - and added, “No one’s gettin’ murdered for sex neither.”

Mika’s relief was short-lived. She crossed her arms and glanced aside, before muttering. “Just assaulted for it…”

“Huh? Talkin’ shit?” Sam challenged.

Mika sat up straighter and squared her shoulders. James cleared his throat.

“Hey look she started it-”

“And you goaded it on. Finish your mouthful.”

“Holy shit, you are a mom today.”

“So what I’m getting from this is, none of you are going to hurt me?” She looked right at Sam. “… Anymore?”

Matthew swallowed a mouthful of the strange enchilada and hunched down, hands on either side of his head. “Weeeee didn’t make a good first impression. Actually Sam didn’t. I was good.”

Sam looked over. “What?”

“But yeah, no, we don’t wanna hurt you at all,” Matthew beamed at her. “We took a lot of energy from you at once; that’s why you fainted like that. No damage, just like, you lost a lot of energy and your body probably wasn’t ready for that. You saved our lives, Mika! And we owe you everything for that!”

“Matthew, let’s not get carried away now,” Erik hummed, eyes shut. “I can already hear you making promises you can’t keep… but he is right, my lovely Princess. Without you, we would have surely perished.”

Mika didn’t respond. Her eyes had gone wide and vacant, and her hands gripped the edge of the table harder, turning her fingertips white.

Damien saw the color drain from her face as disgusting visions erupted in her mind.

“You all… you all took… sexual energy at once… w-what did you do— what did you do to me?”

“Not like that!!” Damien nearly shot out of his seat. “We didn’t hurt you or do anything like… nothing like that, we didn’t do anything to you when you were passed out!”

Everyone looked to him. Mika stared, her jaw tight and her eyes pleading. He could hear her; afraid, panicked, but she wanted to listen to him.

“I, we— all we need is skin contact. Holding hands or, touching shoulders. Thats all we need to do. But, we can take more faster with a… with a kiss.”

“Oh…” Mika took a slow, deep breath. “I, okay. That’s… ok. I thought… yeah.”

James, Sam, and Erik all swapped confused glances.

Matthew leaned sideways to murmur at Damien. “What did she think I was talking about?”

Damien fixed him with a poignant, knowing look. Matthew’s expression immediately dropped.

“Oh…”

As Matthew said it, James understood and went very still. “No. Hells below, never…”

Sam looked around. “Someone wanna clue me in here?”

Mika wanted to disappear into the floor and never come out again.

“She thought we had only _one_ way of getting energy, Aomaris,” James murmured, restraining the urge to sneer at him. “And that we all took energy from her when she was unable to stop us.”

Sam blinked. Then his eyes shot wide and he recoiled so hard he almost fell out of his chair. “Whoa whoa whoa!!! No way dude, fuck no, look, no way in heaven, no way in hell, no way in any place between! That’s fucked!”

“Bwhat!?” Erik chuckled into his hand. “She thought we…!? Really!?”

Mika felt her chest clench right as four livid voices shouted, “Erik!!!”

“What!?” He was still laughing, palms bared. “She really thought any of us would stoop so low as to r—”

Damien shot out of his seat, barely able to contain his anger. “I’m sorry, Mika… you might want to look away for a moment.”

Mika, so thoroughly ashamed and shaken at this point, didn’t have the presence of mind to question him and ducked her head into her forearm.

The other three voiced tentative opposition to… whatever Damien was about to do. She heard him walk around the table to where Erik was. Shifting, then a numb silence filled the room. Mika felt her head swim. What kind of horrible thing would she see if she opened her eyes?

“Nothing horrible,” Damien spoke. “I just don’t feel like explaining. Erik has needed this for a while.”

“Still wouldn’t open ‘em though!” Matthew chimed in.

Mika didn’t open her eyes.

Erik shouted just then, and Mika flinched on instinct. More shifting sounds, and Erik voiced his indignation before shouting in pain again. Sam and Matthew snickered.

She felt so lost in that moment but didn’t have the courage to go against their request. She only wished that bunny would come back around…

Shuffling footsteps made their way from Erik’s seat to Damien’s. “Alright. You can look now.”

Mika very cautiously opened her eyes. Damien had a deep, grumpy pout, while Erik was gingerly rubbing his head and wincing.

“Overkill…” he muttered.

“I say he went easy on you,” Sam jabbed two fingers against the spot Erik was rubbing, earning a shriek of pain. “Insensitive prick.”

James cocked a brow. “That’s more than a touch hypocritical coming from you, Sam.”

“Can we please, just, change the subject…” Mika let her head fall into her hands. “This is making me feel really uncomfortable…”

“Mmh,” James nodded. “Yes, let’s.”

“Alright…” She took a breath, then paused. “I forgot what we were talking about before.”

“You asked if… Ngh, if we hurt you,” Erik said, still wincing. “Which we did not, and would never dream of doing. A fact which is not as obvious to you as it is to us, I take it…”

He looked at Damien, who responded by folding his arms.

Mika sighed. “Alright then. What happened to _you guys_ last night? Why were you in such bad shape?”

There was a stretch of silence. The four looked at one another. Sam leaned in, elbow on the table, and grabbed another enchilada which, after looking down at the one she’d given herself, Mika could see was actually meat sliced thin and rolled up, coated in a thick orange syrup. Sam chomped into the meat.

“Bounty hunter,” he announced around his mouthful.

Damien spoke, “Someone was trying to bring us back home.”

“And you, don’t want to go home,” Mika finished.

“We would very much like to remain in the human world, yes,” Erik glanced aside. “We hardly crossed a dimensional border for the cuisine.”

Mika furrowed her brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Erik chuckled, and Mika could hear a note of condescension in it. “It means we would like to leave our former lives behind us and start anew, my sweet.”

She gritted her teeth and drew in a breath. “What was your name?”

“You may call me Erik,” he offered her a charming smile.

“Right. Call me Mika.”

Erik paused, blinked. “Yes, princess, you’ve introduced yourself to us already.”

Damien and Matthew glanced at each other, covering their mouths.

Sam looked over at Erik with an amused smile. “Dude.”

Erik glanced back at him. “What?”

James cleared his throat.

“As Erik was saying,” He spoke, “My brothers and I have come to the human world in hopes of starting new lives. Our past, however, seems reluctant to let us go.”

Mika leaned forward. “So, why do you have bounties on your heads? What did you do?”

James took a breath, opening his hands as though to find the right words. “It… wasn’t so much what we did as, who we are. Were. It’s something I would rather not disclose at the moment.”

Mika felt a small red flag go up, but she filed it away for later. “Alright. These bounty hunters attacked you and nearly killed you. Shouldn’t they have tried to take you alive, or…?”

“They did try to,” Damien murmured at his plate. “But we, uh… well, we escaped, and they corralled us into a kind of… cage.”

He rubbed his eyes with a grimace. “I can still see the light trails when I blink…”

“They were gonna beat us up until we couldn’t fight back,” Matthew said, and rested his chin on his folded arms. “But I think they got carried away.”

Erik rubbed his neck with a solemn expression. “Indubitably.”

“So you escaped,” Mika said. “Then what?”

“We ran and we found this place,” Sam stated and propped his elbow on the back of his seat. “This ain’t a complicated story.”

“You happened upon my grandfathers mansion? How did you get in?”

“Doors weren’t locked,” Sam didn’t miss a beat.

“So you invited yourself into someone else’s home,” Mika narrowed her eyes at him.

Damien rubbed his temples.

“Why do we have to spell this shit out for you eight times before it gets through? We were attacked, we fought back, we ran, we came here to heal and regroup. End of story.”

“Sam…” James warned through gritted teeth.

“Back _off,_ ” Sam hissed.

Mika glared daggers at Sam. “You broke into my grandfather’s home and then assaulted me.”

Sam reared and would have argued back if Matthew hadn’t thrown a slice of bologna at his face. It hit with a soft _plap_ and made Sam flinch in confusion.

“She’s right, bro!” Matthew scowled. “We already talked to you about this.”

Sam ripped the bologna off his face and sneered at him. “Yeah? She’s the one talkin’ at me like this is all my fault! Which it ain’t!”

Mika sat up straight, unflinching. “You could’ve asked instead of forcing me to kiss you.”

“And what, let you say no so I could bleed the fuck out? Fuck off, who do you think you are that I’m gonna sit around with my thumb up my ass while you find your comfort zone threshold while me and my fucking family are dying!”

James had gotten out of his seat at some point and at that moment, clamped his hand around the back of Sam’s neck. Sam flinched and hunched his shoulders with a strained squawk, and nearly fell out of his seat.

“AUGH-!! Ack-!! Dude, dudedude _dude_ – QUIT-!!” He scrambled to grab James’ arm for leverage.

James looked to Mika. “Miss. Your anger is justified, but I must insist we resume this particular conversation later. Sam struggles with holding civil conversation when he’s angry.”

Mika clenched her jaw but shut her eyes in resignation. James was right; instigating an argument now wasn’t doing anyone any good.

“I’ll hold you to that, then.”

“Mmh,” James released Sam, who thrashed at him and rammed his own knee against the underside of the table.

Erik shook his head with a tsk and took a sip of milk.

Sam stared up at his eldest brother and rubbed his sore neck, looking betrayed.

James didn’t meet his glance and sat back down. A quick adjustment of his glasses, a terse re-roll of his cuffs, and he was back.

“Where were we?”

“You all ran from bounty hunters and, I guess you’re here now,” Mika said.

“Ah yes. I believe that’s the end of the story, in fact. We found you - or rather, you found us - and we, well, you gave us each enough energy from the kisses to heal ourselves. The energy transferral taxed you, and you passed out. After making sure we were in a fit state, Damien and I brought you and your things to a room upstairs.”

“And the rest,” Erik sang, “is history.”

She glanced at the untouched meat enchilada and lump of eggshell surprise on her plate. Around her, the men were eating their breakfast with ease. Gentle clinks and taps of their silverware were the only sounds. The bunny had found its way back to Mika and bumped itself against her foot. She had nearly forgotten about it but was happy it came back. She reached down and it ran right to her hand, happy to be picked up. Mika plopped it in her lap and scratched behind its ears.

She stared at the center of the table and nibbled at her lip with a furrowed brow. Thoughts billowed like storm clouds, rolling and tangling together to the point where she could barely distinguish one concern from another.

“So what happens now?” She asked.

No one answered. She looked up at them. They were looking at one another.

“Well…” James eventually began. “We’ve been discussing that.”

“The bounty hunters are still out there, aren’t they?” Mika asked, a firm look in her eye.

James looked down and pulled his lips in to bite them together. “Mmh…”

Erik glanced at Damien, who met his gaze. Damien nodded to him once.

Matthew shifted in his seat and pulled a leg up so he could hug his knee. “They might not know where we are yet…”

Sam smacked his lips and crossed his arms. “Don’t be a fuckin’ moron, Matthew, of course he knows where we are. All that blood we lost didn’t disappear overnight. He’s recovering same as us. Watching to see what we do.”

Mika felt something in her mind click as she spoke. “Then it’s only a matter of time before more shit hits my proverbial fan.”

“Perhaps we should refrain from making the analytical observations, Sam?” Erik suggested, eyes half-lidded and brows raised. “In lieu of giving our dear princess here another… emotional episode?”

“Excuse me?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Beelz, last thing we need is more of _that_ in this house…”

Damien froze, then slowly lowered his fork.

Sam’s expression faltered. “I– no dude, I meant like… it wasn’t…”

Matthew leaned back as his eyes widened, and covered his mouth. “Busted by the Thought Patrol…!”

“You meant like, what?” Damien said. His expression and tone were deadpan. “No go on. I like when people complain about how much of a burden I am and then try to lie about it… It’s _fun._ ”

Sam wouldn’t meet his brother’s eyes and visibly wilted in his chair.

Mika’s eyebrows shot up.

Erik took an eggshell surprise, glancing sidelong at Sam and looking very pleased with himself.

Damien immediately looked at Erik.

Erik’s smile vanished like smoke on a breeze. He had the decency to match Sam’s shame.

Mika was speechless.

“Wow,” Matthew flashed a thumbs-up at Sam and Erik. “You guys are on ice today, nice job.”

“Shut up.”

“Fuck off.”

James had had his forehead in his hands. He rubbed his eyes without taking off his glasses, sighing.

“Anyway,” Matthew said, “Back to the main topic: Mika! I don’t know what’s going to happen. None of us knows. I dunno about these dumb losers here, but whatever does happen I can personally promise you; I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

Mika’s shoulders fell a bit. “Oh. That’s, uh, th-thank you.”

“Promises, promises,” Erik hummed. “I told you he would.”

“No I’m serious, bro!” Matthew dropped his leg back to the floor and leaned forward. “We owe her! We came in here outta nowhere, and-and took energy from her – and now our auras have trailblazed all over this house! Even if we left right now, Malix and his goonies would know we were here!”

He threw an open hand out in Mika’s direction. “You think they’re gonna just ask her which way we went and leave!?”

“We cannot promise her our protection,” Erik stated. “If we cannot protect ourselves.”

“We can fight just fine. He got the drop on us is all,” Sam countered. “Get that two-face Devil in a real fight and he won’t stand a chance.”

“I have to agree with Sam there,” James spoke up. “With enough practice we can be back on our feet and ready to retaliate should he attempt to catch us off-guard again.”

Damien fixed James with a suspicious glance. James looked back firmly.

“Hello!?” Matthew smacked the table. “You guys are missing my whole point! We can’t let Mika get hurt in all this! No matter _what_ we do, she’s in danger! We gotta protect her!”

“Time-out,” Mika held up a hand. “Everyone shut up a moment.”

Matthew fell silent, mouth agape for a moment before shutting it and sitting down. He seemed quite happy to do so, and even turned to face her fully after scooting his chair in.

Erik, Sam, Damien, and James looked to her as well.

“Lemme just… make sure I’m understanding you guys right. For reasons you won’t share, there’s demon hunters coming after you who are dangerous enough that they can almost-kill all five of you in a fight—”

“Bounty hunters from the Abyssal Plains,” James corrected. “Demon hunters are a very different threat.”

“Sure, whatever. Bounty hunters. Point is these guys are strong enough that they can lay all five of you out to dry, and they’re, what, willing to kill anyone to get to you? Why should I put my life on the line?”

“Your life’s already on the line,” Sam shut his eyes and crossed his arms. “Help us out, he’ll kill you for gettin’ mixed in. Sell us out, he’ll kill you to erase a liability. Do nothing, he’ll kill you as a witness. Shit, he might kill you just because. They’re fuckin’ Devils.”

Erik cleared his throat pointedly. “Sam, brother dearest, I thought we were trying to avoid frightening our lovely lady even further?”

The table shook abruptly, jostling plates and glasses and silverware. The men looked at Mika. She had a white-knuckle fist against the table, eyes squeezed shut, and a sneer on her lips.

“Mika,” She said through her teeth. “My name. Is Mika. You’re not charming, you’re not cute, you’re not suave or sensual or charismatic or whatever it is you think you’re being!! You’re creeping me the fuck out!! What are you trying to do with this whole act!? Do you think I’m flattered to have a complete stranger call me _pet names_ like he knows me? Because it’s not, it’s actually pretty terrifying!! You kept talking about making me feel better before but not once have you even addressed me by my actual name, even after I asked you to!!! I mean why are you even taking the time to talk about protecting me if I’m just a _pretty lady_ to you!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave a comment and kudos if you enjoyed the story! If you're really feeling generous, reblog the story on Tumblr! fivelosersandaqueen!


End file.
